


a mystery never to be solved

by Firestorm0108



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-27 17:42:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17771312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firestorm0108/pseuds/Firestorm0108
Summary: after a night out barbara is attacked and out of nowhere a stranger swoops in and saves her but kills some of the attackers, which doesnt fly with her, he said he was a mystery never to be solved but she was going to get to the bottom of this no matter what





	1. the rescue?

Barbara was walking back to her apartment, she’d been out with the girls (Diahna, Stephanie and Selina along with a couple others) and after a long night she was a little tipsy, she was much more than that but played it down as best she could, she convinced the others she was fine to walk home by herself and since they were some of the few people who knew who she really was, and how she spent her nights, they thought she could handle herself walking a couple blocks or so. She was about 3 blocks from her apartment when she heard footsteps behind her roughly 4 people if she had to guess ,working with batman you pick up on the small details like that no matter what condition you're in, she thought nothing of it why would she wasn't the only person in gotham, she kept walking till she was strolling past the entrance to an alleyway as she was grabbed from behind and brought into said alleyway. The attacker had wrapped their massive arms around her and, as she struggled, she knew she was out of her weight class they had a hundred pounds on her easily. Now normally this wouldn't of been the slightest problem for her, with Bruce’s exhaustive training on using the opponent's strength and weight against them, but in her state she couldn’t fight the grip they had across her stomach as it was pinning her arms to her sides. As a pitch black bag was forced over her head she felt a prick in the side of her neck ,which set off all kinds of alarms in her head knowing full well it wasn't anything good, she screamed ,when all of a sudden the attackers arms went limp and she was freed she felt woozy as she moved her arm, which seemed to weigh much more than it had mere moments ago , to the bag on her head she just managed to force it off as she found herself close to one of the side walls of the alleyway and she use the wall to support herself as she forced herself onto two legs “whoa take it easy there red” a masculine voice said as she looked around her everything was blurry but she could make out four body's lying on the ground as a figure with a red and white hood pulled up just enough for the shadow from the street lights to hide his face from and kind of view, blurred or otherwise, walked over to her and steadied her as she tried to take a swing at him he backed away out of her reach as this force upset her balance and she stumbled as he reached out and caught her for the second time . “Take a breath, i’m willing to bet you were hit with a powerful tranquilizers” the figure said as she tried to focus on him strolling away from her and picking up the syringe which lay on the floor next to one of the unmoving attackers. “who are you” she asked “did you kill these people?” she said looking back at the four behind him as he walked over to her again, she hoped they were unconscious on the ground but she could only see slight movement from two of them. “Not all of them” he said as if that made everything OK, also confirming her suspicions that, at least one of these men were dead. “why did you help me” she asked as she fully focused on staying conscious “let's just say i was in the neighborhood and leave the rest as a mystery to never be solved” as she fell again he caught her and lifted her in his arms this time“just relax red” the man said as she rested her head on his shoulder she didn't want to but the drugs were to powerful for her to fight, and for some reason she felt kind of safe with him, like, why would he save her just to hurt her, and with this thought she fell under the control of the drugs and passed out. When she next woke up she was lying on her white sofa in her apartment “wha….how?” she asked getting up with a throbbing headache. The sun peered through the window shades and there was a note on her table with two tablets and a glass of water next to it. The note read ‘you should be more careful next time red i won't always be around to save you. P.S i tested the needle and the tables are to counteract the side effects unless you don't trust me which would be fair i guess’ her headache was killing her so she took her chances with the pills and drank the water as it seemed to do exactly as the note said she was feeling better within minutes. She got up and went to the shower, she couldn't take her mind off the man who saved her and how he’d managed to take the attackers down in a second flat , he obviously knew what he was doing and also, and more worryingly, who she was or he wouldn't of been able to get her to her apartment. After she got out of her shower she turned on the small tv she had on her kitchen counter, the news was on, there was a news report of a double murder on the alleyway near her apartment as she turned up the volume the news reports head became audible “the four men were found in the early hour of the morning, two were declared dead on arrival as the others are now in critical condition at Gotham general” Barbara couldn't believe what she was hearing, and as if to make things better there was a knock at the door as she opened it and Bruce walked through as he stopped in the middle of her apartment holding her wallet in his hand “we should talk” he said as she nodded and closed the door.


	2. questioning

“Bruce i swear” Barbara started as Bruce waved her hand silencing her “Barbara i know you didn't kill those men” Bruce said looking around her apartment, he'd never actually been here before, “i was more interested in why you're wallet was at the scene” he said flipping it in his hand before placing it on the table next to her sofa. “Well that's a long story” Barbara mumbled as she walked away from the door. “Well for this i'm gonna say i have time” Bruce replied sitting on the sofa and motioning for her to join him. She sat next to him as she explained what had happened the night before through the entire thing Bruce didn't say a word, then she got around to her waking up in her apartment and the pills on the counter. “Well this guy doesn't seem to want to harm you” he started “in fact he went out of his way to keep you from harm, even the after effects of the drugs” Bruce said as if he was far away in thought “but just ot be safe i'd prefer it if you stayed at the manor for a couple nights” Barbara almost agreed to this, she always liked Alfreds company and the manor was the safest place in the state, this was including any military base that happened in the state. “I'm not running from this guy” Barbara said as Bruce tried to interrupt but Barbara was on a role “no this person doesn't want to hurt me but he’s killed people and i'm going to bring him” Barbara felt herself determined by her words “as you described this man took down four heavyweight opponent's in a second flat” Bruce said finally able to get a word in “so he’s obviously very well trained and his ability to identify the drugs and give you the right counters to it shows he's smart are you sure you want to do this?” Barbara knew bruce was just worried about her he’d always treated her like a little girl. “Bruce i can handle this” Barbara said trying to be fair “i just want to make sure you know what you're getting into” Bruce said worry in his voice “if you want me to handle this i will?” he continued “are you saying this guy is better than me” Barbara asked, she hadn't meant to sound so harsh but she felt like Bruce thought more of this new mystery combatant than her “no i just want you to understand that this man isn't your everyday run of the mill fighter and he did save your life” he finished “yes he saved my life and i am grateful for that but he also killed two people and you yourself taught me that killing is never the answer” bruce looked at her wide screen tv she had opposite her sofa, there was nothing on he was just thinking, until he spoke “ok if you want to handle this alone that's your choice but if you need me in there” he said and as if to finish the conversation he got up and left without another word leaving Barbara alone on her sofa deciding the best next step for catching this would be hero.


	3. a old friend

‘what should i do next’ the thought went around her head for the rest of the day till night struck, she had a good first step of a plan but not much more. She decided that the only way the man could of got there that quickly is if he was following her, which lead to more questions, but she would sneak out of her house using a secret panel in her wardrobe that had a ladder leading to the roof, no one outside the batfam knew of its existence so it was the perfect escape route and the best way to try and get behind her new stalker. She came out of the false roof section leading to her secret entrance. As she stepped out into the cold she was thankful for the new termal upgrades to her batgirl uniform, it was significantly colder than it was the night before and her breath mystified as it met the cold frosty air. As she repositioned the false roof section and looked around the other buildings looking for her new friend. She didn't notice anyone, the more she realised that it might not be her night as she heard a report of a bank heist in progress and decided she wasn't going to let this guy take up her life and stop her from doing good. She set off through the rooftops of Gotham and within 10 minutes she was at the bank in question. A garbage truck had ramed itself into the side of the building, it was obviously modified to be able to smash into the reinforced walls she grappled around to the other side and entered from the back. She snuck into the back door after picking the lock and silently making her way in she grappled to the highest point she could see the entire bank and was shocked when all the robbers were already unconscious and bound as she saw nightwing calling it in to GCPD. “now you're meant to be in bludhaven” Batgirl said falling from the banisters and landing next to him as he looked behind himself casually seeing her “you know i saw you coming” Nightwing said as he turned around fully to face her. “Oh shut up Nightwing” she replied as she looked at his handiwork “Batman told me what's happening” Nightwing started before Batgirl stopped him raising her hand “i'm handling it” she replied as if it were final and Nightwing held her hands up in mock surrender. “We should get out of here” Nightwing said motioning to the window, Barbara didn't need to be told twice as she heard the sirens she launched herself out the window and grappled onto the closest building with nightwing hot on her heels. “So what's our plan?” Nightwing asked Barbara looked at him “Our plan?” she replied “well from what you told Bruce this guy’s pretty much your ninja stalker” Nightwing stated matter-of-factly “and i’m not offering you my help Barbs” Nightwing finished as looking on Barbara's face “good because i don't need your he…” Barbara started before nightwing interrupted “i'm going to help you one way or the other” and as Barbara studied Dicks face she realised there was no winning this fight. “Fine” she muttered “he's obviously been watching what i do so why don't i go home and you follow far behind and see if he pops up” Nightwing nods and does a mock bow indicating for her to lead the way. As Barbara spends the next couple minutes running over the rooftops, she felt like she was being watched but with Nightwing trailing her it wasn't unusual so she kept running until she saw a flash of something that looked like white fabric in her peripheral vision and she stopped causing her to skid a couple meters see darted her head around to find the source, but there was nothing there, she went to continue running but as she turned the red and white hooded man was leaning against a air vent a couple meters ahead of her “you're trying really hard to find me” he said calmly “so should i be worried or are you just going to say thank you?” his voice seemed falsely peaceful as if he was just using it to hide his pain. Barbara was about to say thank you before she caught herself, there was something in the way this guy carried himself that distracted her, “why would i thank you, you killed those people” she spat at him he looked at her confused for a second “i only killed two of them” he replied “and that makes it better?!?!” she was almost stunned by his response and it took her a second to reply “you're making it sound like ou shew restraint?” she was worried by the possible answers “well i only landed one blow on each, much more restraint and i'd of had to make them knock themselves out” he smirked at this “that might be a fun little exercise” he said smirking to himself. “Are you completely insane?” she asked genuinely curious as to his answer “well...not completely” he said shrugging “so if you're not going to thank me should i be worr…” he stopped and his body tensed up as he went deadly still, Barbara looked at him confused as Nightwing shot out from behind him surprising Barbara ,who couldn't of followed Nightwings movements around them at all, the man sidestepped Nightwings attack as if he had eyes in the back of his head. Nightwing rebounded off the floor and shot straight at him this time connecting as they both flew over the side of the roof. When Barbara managed to spot them she only managed to make out a blur their punches and dodges were impressive and she finally realised that she wouldn't of even stood a chance in a fight against this combatant. Nightwing had been training with batman way before she even knew batman was real and even he was struggling then all the movement died as a grappling hook planted itself at her feet she jumped back as a figure shot out from the darkness and landed at her feet carrying another figure on is shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a very short chapter but the next bit made more sense to be done apart from this part, or at least i think i haven't actually wrote it yet.

as the white hooded figure dropped Nightwing at his feet, they were both very badly beaten and she knew there battle came down to luck. “I save your life and this is how you thank me!” he says through the panting “you send you're guard dog against me” he says planting a kick in Nightwings ribs Barbara moved forward but the white hood pulled a gun from his back pocket and pointed it at nightwings head. “I really wouldn't if i was you” she stopped dead in her tracks “how did you know that i knew what you do” he asked catching his breath back “you've been stalking me” Barbara replied still in shock at nightwings condition “i assumed you knew everything so i wouldn't be caught out” he laughed at this his body visibly wincing at the action “you always were the smart one barbie” he said which struck a chord with her and if he hadn't of had a gun dead on nightwing she would of swung “no one gets to call me that especially not you” she spat at him “oh barbie so smart yet you've missed the biggest clue… i'm the only person who gets to call you that” and with that he slid his thumb over the safety back on his gun and put it back in it's holster he had hidden on his back “so you're gonna want to get him to alfred, you're so not equipment for this level of first aid” he said gesturing to Dick as his other hand rubbed his ribs “tell Dick when he wakes up he tai chi needs some work and that he's really slipping on his aikido” he backed up to the edge of the roof “oh and tell bruce i said hi, oh and that he can go screw himself” and with that he fell backwards off the roof into the darkness which wrapped itself around him as he fell. Leaving her there on the roof with an unconscious Dick Grayson as she lifted him, god he was heavy, and made her way to her apartment where she called Bruce and asked if he could come and pick dick up and take him to alfred, this wouldn't be a problem if she had her own batmobile but she decided now wasn't the time.


	5. assumptions and a crazy theory

Bruce was pacing back and forth in front of the batcomputer, it was never a good sign, he was wearing his Batman uniform but removed the helmet so he could see everything easier when he switched between screens having trouble getting all 12 into view at once. “How did this happen?” alfred asked while dressing Dicks wounds “he got sloppy” Bruce said looking at Dick, he had 4 broken ribs a sprained wrist and multiple fractures in his hand. “Hey this guy was something different Bruce, slade wilson level stuff, he knew what i was going to do before i even figured it out myself it was almost like ...” Dick trailed off he brain starting to see connections “what is it Dick?” Bruce asked looking at him “the way he was trained he was definitely a league graduate but some of the moves he used i've only ever seen one other person use” he said pointing directly at Bruce “what are you saying Dick?” he asked full well knowing “is it possible you trained this guy” Dick asked flat out sparing any and all pretenses as Bruce shook his head “no i've only ever trained you,jason , tim ,barb, steph and clark” when he said jason's name Bruce’s voice faltered a little, not enough to notice unless you really knew him, jason was the second robin after Dick and was like a little brother to him, and like a son to Bruce, till the joker got his hands on him and he was tortured and killed. Dick always blamed himself, as did Bruce, but Dick was off world at the time with the titans and didn't know till he got back and checked the computer the news almost broke him, he and jason argued all the time but they were still family. “But then how did this guy learn you're fighting style” Dick asked as an open question for anyone to answer. It was then when Barbara sped in on her bike through one of the secret entrances as she dismounted she walked up to alfred “how is he?” she asked him as Dick waved his arms to get Barbara’s attention “i'm here you can ask me” he said as he winced hurting himself in the movement as Barbara turns to him “yes but you lie” she said turning back to Afraid “he has 3 broken ribs, a fractured left wrist and multiple broken bones on his right hand” Alfred answers as Dick looked at him “you couldn't of even lied a little?” he asks alfred who just looks at him innocently “you're the world's greatest detectives there's no point in lying” as he shrugged and walked up to Bruce who at this point was looking in the distance trying to answer Dicks question. “Bruce…” Barbara started “you were right” she said as he turned to her tilting his head in confusion “whoever this guy is i'm going to need help taking him down” Bruce noted something different in her voice with the last part. “What's wrong Babs?” and she looked like she was going to say nothing but she just relaxed, went and slumped onto one of the workbenches “there was something about this guy” Barbara started “he knew me, knew us” she said “he knew you're fighting styles” she continued motioning to Bruce “and he knew exactly how you fought” she said again motioning this time to Dick “he also told me to tell you i said hi” she said looking at Alfred who just muttered “charmed i'm sure” Barbara looked at Dick “he said you're tai chi needed work and that you're slipping in your aikido” she doesn't know why she said this but she felt compelled to. Dick tensed at these words “are you sure he used those words?” he asked at a slight whisper “yeah ,those words, why?” she asked standing up Dick sat upright and shook his head as if dismissing the idea “it's nothing… it's just that's what Jason said to me the last time we spared” he muttered as Barbara’s eyes opened in something resembling fear ,but not quite, “he called me Barbie” she whispered as they looked at her “yeah that's what Jason called you… you use to hate it” Dick said looking at her worried before she looks dead at him “no that's not what i mean he called me Barbie, the dude in the hood”. They were all stunned “then when i said no one gets to call me that but he replied ‘no Barbie i'm the only person who gets to call you that’” she said looking at Bruce “is it possible that he’s…?” she started before Bruce cut her off “NO!....no, he's gone and he's not coming back” Bruce said looking at the ground as Dick gets to his feet “but what if it is?” Dick started “he killed two people and as you can see you're the only person in gotham who can take him down” dick was angry, he didn't know what or who he was really angry at this theory was crazy but it just made him furious, “i’ll take this man down and send him to arkham” and just like that he put his batman helmet on, completing his look and he went to leave before Barbara reached out and grabbed his arm “you should know Bruce, he seems to have a special kind of hate for you. His eyes, there was something different there, i've never seen so much hate” Bruce nodded and left leaving the conversation dead in his wake.


	6. family issues

Bruce met the commissioner where they usually met, on top of the GCPD next to the batsignal, “i need intel” Bruce says as the commissioner lights a cigarette and draws in a breath “who's being hunted today?” the commissioner asked, smoke exiting his mouth as he spoke “i don't know his name, all i know is that he's well trained and was responsible for the two murders in the alley in the middle district” Bruce started “3 murdered now, one still in intensive care” the commissioner replied “he did that in roughly a second” Bruce said emphasizing his point “so he's in you're fighting class” the commissioner said “that's rare” he said shrugging “but you've handled worse” Bruce could see the commissioner wasn't fully realising the situation “he fought Nightwing” Bruce said and the commissioner looked at him “so why do you need information if he's already dealt with” Gordon asked before looking at the Bat “ah… he wasn't caught, Nightwing OK?” he asked and Bruce nodded “he won't be fighting for a couple weeks but he's alive” he commented. “So this is revenge?” the commissioner pointed out “no this is just getting to the truth” Batman replied which the commissioner laughed at “liar” was his only response. Gordon pulled up his phone and made a call getting the information for Bruce. The call didn't last to long, which wasn't a good thing. “All the information we have is that his code name is ‘Red hood’ and he's mostly been acting like a vigilante” the commissioner said before looking back at Batman and shrugging “well at least one with a little less restraint” he continued before turning back around and putting his hands on the cold guard rail “all the reports share one thing whenever the robber, killer, rapist or whatever says you're name they get it much worse” he concluded before saying one last thing “you might want to watch out with this one, or maybe call your indestructible friend” before he turned around and realised that Batman had disappeared “doesn't matter how many times he does it i still fall for it” he mutters looking at his almost finished cigarette and throwing it off the building as it's embers broke the darkness below before being swallowed by it.

Bruce was in the batmobile driving threw old Gotham when he stopped next to an apartment building just a couple blocks away from crime alley. He got out and walked to the third floor and went into room 3G where he saw an empty apartment, the entire building was condemned but Bruce brought it considering what it was, this was Jason's old apartment and this was where they first met. Ok so that wasn't one hundred percent accurate they first met on crime alley where Jason had hit Bruce with a tire iron after stealing wheels from the batmobile. that night Bruce followed him here and notice he was all alone, Dick had just left at the time and Bruce thought this kid could be the next robin, with a lot of training that is. The recent affairs had led Bruce down a painful path of memories. He sat there in the dark thinking before an arrow shot into the window shattering the glass and hitting the wall next to his face and his reaction was to crouch making himself a smaller target and see where the attacker was, but they were long gone, Bruce walked over to the arrow and pulled it out of the wall. When he pulled on the arrow the head didn't move but the rest broke off it, as if by design. He looked down the hollow arrow and there was a scroll. He unraveled it and read it t'd say it's good to see you again but Alfred hates people lying so… anyway the reason i shot this note to you was to give you one chance, back off and let me clean Gotham my way, if you get in my way… let's just say i'm not your average rent-a-thug , ask Dick he’ll vouch for it. P.S before you misunderstand i'm not giving you this out for you i'm doing it for Barbara and Alfred and yes even Dick they don't deserve to suffer because of your mistakes. And with that Bruce returned to the cave he was almost one hundred percent sure it was Jason now but he still had a couple doubts and didn't want to be hasty on something like this. When Bruce got to the cave he shew Alfred the note with the understanding it was to stay between them for the time being. “It can't be master Todd” Alfred said firmly clutching the note and reading the first sentence over, Jason was the only one with a tendency for swearing and considering his background Alfred understood but Alfred still make a task of making sure Jason never swore while around him, “look at it Alfred it's his handwriting” this was true and Alfred couldn't argue with it, the amount of ‘i'm sorry’ card Jason had wrote to him he’d tell the writing anywhere. “But master Bruce as you said master Todd is gone and he's not coming back” to which Bruce nodded “that's what i said but this ‘Red hood’ has been trained by me and the only one who could currently beat Dick in a fight would be Jason if he had indeed trained with the league like Dick said he had” Alfred looked at Bruce, this revelation had hit him hard, Jason was the biggest regret of Bruce's career “there is one way we can be sure” Bruce said looking at Alfred who seemed to of read his mind “NO! I won't have it! It is inhumane and cruel and i’ll have no part in it!” Bruce looked at his butler, his friend, and sighed “go to the cave and tell Barbara and Dick what the commissioner told me” Bruce said “will that be all i am to tell them?” Alfred asked harshly as Bruce nodded “for now… till were one hundred percent sure” to this Alfred nodded and exited the room leaving Bruce to do one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do in his career, in his life. He grabbed a shovel from the gardening shed and slowly made his way over to the cemetery on the grounds it was the same place his parents were buried, he walked to their graves and placed a hand upon each and spared a moment for them as he always did then he walked over to Jason's grave with shovel in hand and apologized silently to Jason before removing his suit jacket and pacing it over his name as he started digging, the sun was finding its way over the horizon when he reached the coffin he broke the seal on the coffin and went to open it before he heard something in the air, he turned to see a very confused and disturbed superman floating down besides him “Bruce…...what, why?” he asked confused as Bruce looked back at the coffin and flipped the lid showing an empty grave as he looked back at superman who was completely confused. Bruce raised his hand a Clark lifted him out “what brings you to Gotham?” Bruce asks brushing off some of the dirt from his suit “oh i think we have a more important topic” Clark said motioning to the empty coffin. Bruce looked at him, then the grave “he’s alive Clark” Bruce said his emotions creeping into his voice “he's alive and he hates me” Clark looks at him “Bruce… i'm sorry” he said as he hugged Bruce, Bruce normally shrugged him off but this time he just stood there he didn't resist he just let Clark hug him as he stood there realizing that Jason was alive, and that he realized that Jason blamed him, and he couldn't blame Jason for it.

Bruce and Clark went inside and Bruce explained the situation “so he's back...and he saved Barbara… which lead to people dying” Clark summarized to which Bruce nodded “look Bruce i don't really know how to phrase this but do you think the reason you all went after this case so hard is because you wanted it to be him?” Bruce looked at him “what do you mean?” Clark thought a minute before he spoke “i understand Batgirl going after him because he killed people, but the way you told the story she went after him hard, do you think on some subconscious level she made out his face through the drugs and wanted to find him again?” Bruce found himself confused for a second before nodding gently “i supposed it's possible” he agreed which Clark took as a cue to keep going “then when he started to sound a bit like Jason you started digging his grave up… yes i know you have some proof but still you've fought people who've known your identity before and this is the first time you've ever done this” he said motioning to the mud stuck on Bruce's suit pants. “Maybe i should bring him in” Clark said after 10 minutes of silence,Bruce leans back on his sofa, “this is a family matter Clark” Bruce said rubbing his face with his hands “i know it is Bruce and that's the point” he said gently “now you know it's Jason you’ll pull punches, what happened to him was always your greatest shame, and if he hates you as much as we think he does and is as skilled as we think he is you can't afford to pull punches” Clark said looking dead at his friend, his brother, “i won't abandon him again Clark… i can't” the last part came out a whisper “what happened wasn't your fault Bruce” Clark stated “it was the joker who tortured him, and it's the joker’s fault he’s dead” Bruce just started shaking his head “he was my responsibility, i was like a father to him and he was a son to me and i let him get taken by the joker!” Bruce yelled, not at Clark, but at himself. “Can you imagine what he went through?” Bruce asked Clark “being tortured for days, weeks, months by the joker” Bruce said this looking at the ground before he went silent again for a time before looking directly at Clark “can you bring him home? Bring him here?” Clark was taken aback, he and Bruce were like brothers and if Bruce ever needed help he’d ask Clark, but he never heard Bruce like this “of course i will Bruce” Clark said getting up and walking to the door “just…..just don't hurt him to much” Bruce said as Clark nodded and walked out of the manor closing the door behind himself. Leaving Bruce sitting there on the sofa, broken and in shock.


	7. an encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in my AU the all-blades are capable of cutting through anything, magical or not

Clark flew high above Gotham listening, trying to find Jason’s voice, heartbeat, something but it didn't work, it had been four year since Clark last saw him and he’’d been through too much not to change. Clark landed on the Wayne high rise building, simply because it was the highest building in the city. He pulled out his phone and rang Alfred, he had his number for emergencies “hello master Kent” Clark heard as Alfred answered the phone “please Alfred it's just Clark” he replied , he always did Alfred never listened thought, “of course master Kent” Alfred replied before continuing “do what do i owe this call?” Alfred asked changing the subject as Clark sighed and rested against the railing. “I just spoke to Bruce, he asked me to bring Jason in” Clark responded before waiting a second “what can you tell me about him?” Clark asked “i mean i met him a couple times and he was a good kid but i'm not sure i really knew anything about him” Clark continued. “Well master Kent when master Bruce found him he was a devious little rascal but he was always a good person” Alfred said when Clark replied “yeah i guess as much, but was there anywhere he’d go” Alfred went silent for a while before replying “he didn't really have much before master Bruce brought him to the manor” Alfred replied before Clark thought for a second “thank you Alfred” Clark said before hanging up the phone. His conversation with Alfred had given him an idea, so far the only two confirmed sightings of Jason had been when he was watching Batgirl so he flew over to her apartment and used his thermal vision to see if there was anyone in any nearby rooftops, there wasn't , but the sun was only just going down and the Batfamily did love the night time, so he stayed around a little longer floating just above cloud level so no one would notice him and with his thermal vision he could still see the people around Batgirls apartment. He was like this for about an hour before he noticed movement on one of the adjacent rooftops and swooped around to get behind whoever it was. It was him. Or at least he was wearing what bruce had described ,jeans a black shirt and a white jacket with a red outline. Superman approached who he was sure was Jason as he froze making Superman do the same before the silence was broken “i knew you were in Gotham but don't you have better things to do?” Jason asked as he looked over his shoulder to superman “i think you'll agree that this is pretty important Jason” as Clark said this Jason fully turned and took off his hood “well all it took was force feeding you ‘detectives’ the answer” Clark knew it was Jason but seeing him still left him shocked “so it's true?” Clark asked which made Jason laugh “looks supes i respect you and your a good person so i’ll ask once, this is family business, leave Gotham and let us handle it ourselves” jason said now deadly serious Clark just looked at him “Jason you can't expect me to leave so you and Bruce can have a fight to the death” he said this and Jason smiled “you think i want to kill him? No Clark, death is to easy for him, i was tortured by the joker for SIX MONTHS” Jason lost his composure for a second before collecting himself “so i'm going to purge Gotham of it's filth permanently, then i will destroy the batman, not kill him, i will break the symbol of the batman, i will take away everything he has then i’ll give him the mercy of death. He should be happy that's all i'm doing” Clark noticed that Jason's heart was racing, not nervous just angry, and Jason moved wiping his eye. “I can't let you do that” Clark said gently “please come home let us help, your family loves and cares for you” Clark said but even he realised this might not work considering he’d only ever met Jason a couple times. “My family hates what i am now! I saved Barbara from being raped and they hunt me for it! Where was Bruce? He was going to let her down like he did me but I saved her! ME!” Jason said his fists trembling trying to keep himself in check. “You also killed two people” Clark said still calm “well sorry i did have bulletproof skin to hide behind or that i didn't have all of Bruce's little toys i had a killer instinct and a friend in trouble” he meant what he said and didn't stop there “you think your so brave” Jason spat at Clark “your not brave, 99.9% of all fights you walk into are nothing to you you can take gunfire like it's nothing, you get hit and the other guy breaks his arm” Jason wasn't even close to done “me, Barbara, Dick hell even Bruce we are brave, we go into every single fight knowing that if we make even the slightest mistake we die” Clark was hurt by his words, but more hurt by the fact he was right, he always admired Batman for everything he's gone through considering he has no powers. “Last chance Superman” Jason said breaking Clark from his thought “leave me alone or i will take you down” Jason said firmly and from his pulse Clark could tell he wasn't bluffing but he wouldn't give up on this kid “what are you going to do Jason, you going to kill me?” he said edging his way closer and Jason just shook his head “i don't kill good people Clark but if they get in my way i do make sure they can't again” Jason said still scarily calm. “I'm not giving up on you Jason” Clark said firm as Jason sighed and shook his head “don't say i didn't give you an out” he said as he his arms came out from his sides, it looked like they were in a fighting stance sword wielders use but he didn't have any swords “you can't win a fight against me without kryptonite” superman said just stating a fact as Jason smiled “i don't need kryptonite” he said. His hands lit ablaze with a burning light which started focusing till he was holding what looked like two wickedly sharp katanas with red and black hilts “let's see what you got Clark” Jason said as he rushed Clark, who was still stunned he launched himself over Clark and slashed the back of his left knee, Clark cried out.


	8. family meeting

Clark grabbed his knee as he crumpled grabbing the back of his knee, it felt warm and wet he pulled his had away and he was bleeding “h-how?” he asked looking at Jason who and walked back around him as Jason's blades disappeared back into light. Jason rubbed his hands together “i'm sorry Clark” he said gently and Clark really did believe him “and the how is a complicated story, i did training with some ancient fighters and they taught me how to summon the blades, there called all blades, there powered from my soul and cut anything” Jason explained as Clark tried to rise and Jason looked at him worried, “i wouldn't if i were you i sliced through your tendons, you won't be walking for at least a 12 hours, and that's given your powers” Jason was sorry for what he’d done but he needed Clark to understand “fly to the manor Clark get Alfred to patch you up, then leave Gotham this isn't your fight” and with that Jason raised his hood up, covering his face yet again and walked away. 

Clark flew, shakely, back into the batcave where Bruce was waiting, he had cleaned up from earlier and was now wearing yet another, probably very expensive suit, Nightwing and Batgirl were there as well Nightwing looked like he'd had a fight with a bus. They all looked at him at once and they were all confused as Bruce rushed over to where Clark landed and helped him over to the second medical bed. “What happened to you?” Barbara asked as he looked up at her “i found the hood” he was going to continue before Bruce interrupted “they know Clark” as Clark nodded and continued “Jason and i had a chat, he told me to leave or get put down” Clark chuckled a little “i didn't leave” he said before wincing as Alfred appearing behind him and dressing his wound “wait Jason did this to you” nightwing asked completely lost for words “yeah he had these blades, uh , all-blades he called them” as he said this Bruce’s eyes, which were looking at the floor, shot to Clarks “the all-blades? Are you sure?” Clark looked at him and nodded “yeah that's what he called them why does that mean something to you?” he asked looking at Bruce who slowly nodded “the all blades are magic weapons that take tremendous and unrelenting training to gain, to my knowledge no human ever had the will to get them, but they can cut through anything.” Bruce said as he looked back at Clark “you're lucky he only wanted to incapacitate you” Bruce said as Clark chuckled again “yeah lucky me, anyway he said that this was a family matter and i should leave it alone” Clark continues as Bruce nods “i shouldn't of asked you to get involved” Bruce muttered walking over to the computer “hey i wanted to and there was no way you could of predicted that Jason would have weapons no human has ever possessed” Clark pointed out. Bruce looked at Alfred “call Tim and Steph it's time we got everyone involved, and Clark” Bruce said turning his attention on him “thank you for what you've done but it's clear now he wants this done in family and with the all blade we don't really have a choice” Clark tried to argue but Bruce won the argument and Clark agreed to go back to metropolis tomorrow when he fully healed. “Bruce” Clark said getting his full attention from the batcomputer. “I've seen anger before, hell, i see it in Luthor's eyes, but what i saw in jason's eyes it was… pure like it's the only thing keeping him going” Bruce nodded but Clark shook his head “you don't get it Bruce, he said he was tortured by the joker for six months. Can you imagine that? And he’s channeled all that hate towards you, not the family, just you Bruce” Bruce nodded again turning back to the batcomputer not giving a single emotion away “Alfred?” he asked “yes master Wayne?” Alfred responded “make the calls as soon as your done with Clark” and with that he fully focused on the batcomputer, everyone was silent, till Alfred helped Clark up the stairs taking him to a bedroom so he can rest. He offered the same to Nightwing but he was still adamant he wanted to be here, in the cave, this was Jason and he could be helpful. 

Tim and Steph got to the batcave within half an hour they both walked in a couple minutes from each other, already in there uniforms, Steph was the last to arrive and as she did so she looked around and muttered “well this isn't good” as nightwing just nodded “she's not wrong” he replied as she reached the bottom step “so what's so bad the whole family gets called?” she asked then fully realising nightwings condition “what happened to you?” she asked looking at him as he shook his head “long story Bruce was about to tell you” nightwing said motioning to Bruce with a fake smile as Bruce nodded with his normal scowl “it's Jason” the only two words to leave Bruce's mouth as Tim and Steph looked at each other confused, they both knew who Jason was how couldn't they he was the lost robin, the dead robin Bruce's greatest shame “what about him?” Tim asked breaking the silence as Bruce’s hand shook slightly, almost unnoticeably, as he looked at Alfred who nodded “it appears master Todd has returned” Tim and Steph's eyes shot to Bruce who just nodded then Steph looked at Dick “is he who did that to you” as Dick nodded “he's trained a lot since we last saw him” Dick stated “but he's dead” Steph blurted “he was” Barbara agreed “so how…” Tim started before Bruce cut him off “we don't know but we need to bring him in” and to that everyone nodded “well what are we waiting for?” Tim asked as they all got up from there various seats and walked closer to Bruce who nodded then looked at Dick who raised a hand “don't even try and bentch me here Bruce” he said as he walked to batmobile and Bruce just nodded and walked round to the driver seat and jumped in as the others got on there assorted bikes. “So where are we going” Tim said over comms as Bruce was silent and Dick tapped his shoulder shaking him back “the one place Jason knows i wouldn't go until i was sure i had to” and with that they shot out of the batcave all following the batmobile.


	9. manipulation part 1

They tore through the city as shocking speeds all in formation till they got witing blocks of the site “oh” was all Dick and Barbara managed to say as Tim and Steph found themselves asking “what is it” as they came around the final bend turning into the remains a destroyed warehouse. The front of the warehouse was rouble, plain and simple but the back room still managed to be holding itself up “where are we” Steph asked as Tim nodded also wanting an answer. No one replied till Barbara spoke up “this is the place Jason died” she said with pain in her voice as they made there way to the back of the remaining structure, Steph was asked to find a vantage point and alert them if someone was coming. As they all entered this room they could tell it was being lived in, the roof had been ‘fixed’ or at least it wasn't leaking and there was bedding in the corner and what looked like a mini armory covering the back wall, they were inspecting the room when a voice called from behind them “well would you look at this family reunion” they all shot around as Jason was leaning in the door frame hood off seeing him left them all in shock. “You all looked surprised to see me” he said joyfully “oh and you brought the replacement” Jason said closing his hands together and pointing at Tim “i'd be careful if i were you robins never end up to good” he said gesturing to himself “and this guy is more proof he couldn't keep his happy go lucky attitude if he didn't get to beat people to oblivion every night” he said smiling “he's damaged to high hell” Jason said “where's Stephanie!” Tim blurted out to which Jason's smile dropped “don't worry she's alive” Jason said as he looked directly at Tim “she's in the batmobile, it's easy to hack once you've had a peak at how it ticks” he winked his smile returning. “So Bruce” he said his gaze shifting to him, his smile dropping instantly and his eyes gaining the anger superman had described to them “i was really hoping for a one on one” his voice had lost his gleeful tone and was now void of all emotion “Jason” was all Bruce said “yes jason” he replied “your greatest failure even before i kicked the proverbial bucket” he spat at Bruce. “How?” Barbara asked making Jason turn his head to her, the anger faded again not gone more dormant, and he chuckled “that's a story and a half” Jason muttered as he went to walk to his bed and Tim lunged at him which he easily blocked and returned with a full force punch to the stomach which sent Tim crumpling to the floor “don't get cocky replacement” Jason said as he corrected his jacket and went to his bed he pulled a duffel bag from underneath and opened it up and removed a red helmet and looked at it Tim climbed to his feet as Nightwing helped him up “now is there any chance if you lot leaving me and daddy dearest for a chat” he looked around and no on moved “guessed as much” he said as he put the helmet on and pulled up his hood. He unzipped his jacket showing an assortment of gadgets and knives along with two white and gold desert eagles along with what looked like high grade ballistic armor. “I'm not stupid” Jason started as he put on leather gloves also from the bag “i know i can't take all of you” he turned to look at them “well at this point it's pretty much just me, Barbara and Bruce still standing but i'm still out gunned” so he raised his arms then kneeled on the ground “so take me in” he said surprising everyone, except Bruce who was just blocking it out as he walked over to Jason secured his arms and put him in the back of the batmobile “this was to easy bruce” Dick said as the door closed behind Jason “i know but what's the alternative we can leave him here” Barbara said as dick nodded “i know and we should take him in, not to the police thought” Dick said as Bruce spoke up “we’re taking him to the cave” Bruce said and with that they left off with Dick, even with his injuries, driving Steph's bike to the cave while she was unconscious in the passenger seat of the batmobile.

They secured Jason in a completely transparent cell, inside of a complete metal room. all of his weapons and armor had been removed and he was wearing some clothes given to him by Dick and he was sitting on the bed, back against the headboard legs stretch out along the mattress he stayed this way for 6 hours 47 minutes and 30 seconds before he got a visitor. It was Barbara he looked at her and smiled “hey there Barbie” he said, his voice seemed normal like the events of the last week hadn't happened and he had never died, as she closed the metal door, he saw the metal room was roughly 8 ft thick and Barbara strained a bit moving the door, she winced at the name and he looked at her confused before saying “does my memory really disturb you that much?” he asked as she looked at the ground avoiding his eyes, that was his answer, “Jason…” she started as she finally met his eyes “i'm so sorry” she continued as Jason raised his hand questioningly “about the sending Dick after me or hunting me yourself” he asked and Barbara shook her head “about you dying” she said quietly as his jaw clenched “that wasn't your fault Barbara” he said as he got off the bed and walked to as close as her as he could before stopping with the wall dividing them “look at me” Jason said with the same care he had for her when they were younger, before he died. “What happened to you Jason” she asked gently as he turned away and walked back to his bed and sat down “not much just been sitting here for 6 hours 49 minutes and 3 seconds how about you?” he asked to which Barbara just looked at him “no, really Jason i want to know” to which Jason smiled coldly “you want to know or he wants to know?” he asked pointing at a hidden camera in the corner of the room, hidden from most, but not from someone who’d trained with batman and Barbara shifted her focus not seeing what jason could till she looked directly at it “i didn't know Jason but can you blame him?” she asked looking at him “oh i can blame him a lot but for a lot and because of that i'll forgive him for the camera” he said winking “because i'm nice” he continued as Barbara looked at him sadness in her eyes before he sighed “i'm sorry Barbie… sorry ….Barbara” he said as he got up walked back over to her and sat on the ground where he had been standing earlier. “Care to sit?” he asked gently which she did, they were only a meter or so apart but with a wall dividing them. “It started when the joker got me from the bank job” Jason said lighty, this was so the camera couldn't pick up his audio “he captured me and i couldn't do anything i was weak” he said looking at the ground “the joker disappeared for about half a year after that” Barbara mumbled looking at Jason who laughed without emotion “yeah that's cause he spent the time finding new ways to make me suffer till he realised his fun had gone so he finished me off, it was the first bit of mercy he showed” Jason said empty “did you know the joker doesn't sleep?” he asked rhetorically which means he spent 4380 hours hurting me” Jason had tears in his eyes “then a year later i get brought back by Ra’s Al Ghul thinking it would earn him good graces with the big bad bat” he continued as he rubbed his chest “all my wounds healed, scars fixed and mussels restored” he said removing his shirt and mock flexing which made Barbara laugh a light, almost unnoticeable, but jason realised it and smiled “at least you smiled” he said sitting back down “you were always good at that” Barbara said a faint smile still playing on her lips. “Anyway Ra’s brought me back but my memories weren't quite so together as my body, so Ra’s initiated me into the league, and when i got my memory back, 2 months later, he’d taught me pretty much everything he knew. But i took him down, i was angry, i am angry Barbara” Jason said looking in her eyes “i defeated Ra’s and left him for dead and made my way to the people who gave me the all blades” he said before finishing with “then i bounced around learning everything i could about fighting getting ready then i came back” Barbara looked at him fearing her next question “ getting ready for what?” she asked as he looked at the ground “you know why i'm here Barbara, i'm here for revenge” Barbara knew he was going to say this but she hoped being here in the cave would of changed his mind “how’s the online college going?” he asked which surprised her “how did you?” she’d been taking an online college course in computing and technological engineering but hadn't told anyone not even Bruce. “I kept tabs on you, Alfred and yes even Dick just to make sure you were safe” he said “why didn't you come back? we missed you, i missed you” Jason smiled at her “i wanted to and that's what i planned to do when i got my memories back” he said looking right into her eyes with kindness she didn't realise he had left which then turned cold with the burn of anger behind them “then i found out that i got replaced and that the joker was still breathing!” the anger was now ablaze in his eyes “why would i come back when i was so easily replaced!” he said and she realised something, he wasn't angry he was hurt. “You know bruce loves you, we all love you, Tim found Bruce and he made Bruce feel better after you had gone he wanted to be robin” Jason just looked at her with an eyebrow raised “your really making excuses for him aren't you? I was being tortured for six months and Tim became robin after 3!” he said as Barbara felt hurt, he was right Tim was robin when Jason was killed but he was on holiday with his family that night “so do you want to try again with the ‘he was after me and Bruce needed him’ thing” he said as Barbara just looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes “and on that point don't think for a second i know don't the only reason your here right now is because Bruce thought your the best bet to get to me” Jason said trying his utmost not to try and keep his anger in check, both of them knew what he said was true, Barbara had been sent in here by Bruce. “So how about you stop making excuses for the sociopath who cares for no one but himself and his mission and leave” he said calmly getting up and walking back to his bed and lying back down on it as Barbara got up and walked out but as she opened the door Jason said one last thing “if that bastard wants to manipulate me tell him he can come and do it in person” before Barbara closed the door, crying.


	10. a plan

It was another 12 hours 47 minutes and 47 seconds before he got another visitor. That's 19 hours 36 minutes 50 seconds for those keeping score, and Jason was. His new visitor was one Richard Greyson who walked in with a large cheese burger ,strawberry milkshake and chips as he opened the slot in the see through door and slid it in Jason didn't move. “What did all your training make it so you didn't need food?” Dick asked sarcastically which made Jason laugh “ah Dick as witty as ever” he replied swinging his legs over his bed, sitting up. “Your a special kind of crazy you know that?” Dick said looking at Jason who put on his most innocent face and with a mock insulted look “who me?” he said before laughing “oh come on Greyson can you really blame me?” Dick looked at him as he leaned against the steal wall behind him “what does that mean?” and Jason just laughed “you got angry at bruce for being his sidekick” Jason said looking at him “i get tortured by the joker for six month and all of a sudden it's all save our lord and saviour Bruce Wayne?” Jason said looking dead at Nightwing “your such a fucking hypocrite!” Jason said exasperated that Dick couldn't see it. “Your so blind to your own flaws” Jason said “at least i know my problems” Jason muttered picking up the food tray and moving back to bed. “Oh you know your issues do you? So you know you made Barbara cry just to get at Bruce” Jason was quite after Dick said this “the only person willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and you make her cry” Jason looked up at Dicks words “so you admit the rest of you have given up on me then?” he asked as Dick was getting annoyed with his words being used against him “your just mad i beat your ass” Jason quipped as Dick looked at him “we haven't given up on you jason but your not helping yourself” Dick said before walking to the door “why don't you help me and let me out of here so i can have a long overdue chat with Bruce?” Dick just walked out of the room as all the lights shut off leaving Jason in the dark “oh so i'm just meant to eat in the dark then” he shouts as a light on his nightstand turns on “thanks Barbie” he yelled again smiling knowing she was the only one who’d turn the light on. The next 11 hours 12 minutes and 13 seconds were uneventful which was good for him it gave him time to rest till he opened his eyes when the clock in his head reached 24 hours and he stood up.

Jason recalled back to the warehouse when he put on his helmet and gloves, now the helmet he put on just to take attention away from the gloves, which were the real plan. The gloves were made of leather but in the right hand glove there was a very thin high tech chip he stole from Stagg industries and modified himself with Wayne tech. when it got in the cave the circuit activates with two routines, the first was to enter the cameras and audio and find the camera with Jason's face and measurements in them and switch it into a feedback loop so he could escape, the second protocol added multiple subroutines into the batcomputer to be activated by codewords said in Jason's voice.

Jason walked to the see through door and summoned the all blades slicing both through the see through door and steal door behind it pushing it out the way, as Jason appeared on the next camera his glove looped that footage as well. He dematerialised the all blades, they drained him to use so he only used them in short bursts, he walked down the hallway before saying “location” before the speaker next to him sparked to life “red hood equipment currently on the third right turning and fourth door on right” as Jason nodded and walked following the direction he came to the door.looked at the panel next to it before speaking into the speaker next to it “unlock door” he looked at the plack on it “B3 armory” Jason said before sighing in at the name, when he was robin and he'd enter the hall of justice which was a rare occurrence he was addressed by the computers as B3. he entered and he saw all of his equipment as he dressed himself back in his own clothes and requipted himself with all his weapons and gadgets. As the final piece he equipeted his crimson red helmet and walked out again walking to the central batcave and stopping just out of view to anyone who'd be there. He poked his head around and it was empty, batmobile and Nightwings bike were gone and Jason moved to the batcomputer and pulled the magazine out of his left hand gun and removed three bullets pulling the cap off the third and showing it to be a flash drive, he plugged it in and it set to work reprogramming the entire computer network so batman and his sidekicks were now hostiles and no longer allowed in the cave. With that he sat down put his feet up and waited. He waited for an hour until her had an alert on his screen saying that the batmobile was coming this way and he just rested again and waited this time looking at his watch and starting a timer. It was 27 minutes till he found himself spinning in his chair with Bruce standing opposite him he pushed the button on the stopwatch and tuted “27 minutes, your getting rusty” jason says getting up as Bruce looks at him “why did you do this?” Bruce asked walking over to the batcomputer as Jason moved out of his way “well you didn't come visit” Jason said “and i think you'll agree we need to talk” as he said this Bruce deactivated the issues caused by the memory drive “Jason…” he started “Let's skip the apologies and excuses you've written although i'm sure they were very well done” Jason spat “i only have one question, just one” he said to calmly “why is he alive” Jason said as he pressed a button on a controller in his hand and a video of joker blazed on screen, he was badly beaten and tied to a chair, Bruce just looked at the screen “oh and this is live” he said reading Bruce’s face “Jason...what have you done” Bruce said as Jason smiled behind his mask “oh sorry did i beat up your best friend?” Jason said bitterly “what's this all about Jason?” Bruce asks peeling his face from the monitors and looking at Jason “come now Bruce you're a smart man i think you know” Jason said buying time and holding his emotions an amount even he was impressed with “you want revenge” Bruce muttered “NO … I...WANT...JUSTICE!” Jason screamed “YO…” Jason took a deep breath “you…abandoned me and HE...” Jason yelled pointing at the screen “...well he tortured and killed me” Jason said as his arms fell back to his sides “but what do you care right” Jason said as he looks at the monitor smiling as the very bottom right most part of the bottom right screen flashes black and white for a microsecond, if you weren't looking out for it you'd of never spotted it as Bruce starts talking again “Jason...your right” Bruce said “but can't you see killing isn't the answer” Jason looked at him “Bruce… it's the only answer. Killing criminal is the only way to fix it this broken city” he said as he looked dead at Bruce “what your doing isn't getting it done so i'm going to be the hero and i'm gonna be a better hero than you could ever be” and with that he clicked a button on a remote in his hand and the screens turned white as Bruce heard and explosion outside the cave “i just ended the joker, something you'd never do i just saved thousands of lives which would of been at risk because of your moral code” and with that Bruce lunged at him.


End file.
